Knicks' Woodson Says Raymond Felton Will Play Despite Arrest
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson says guard Raymond Felton will suit up Thursday night against the Heat in Miami despite being arrested Tuesday on gun charges.
Woodson addressed reporters after practice on Wednesday.
"The bottom line is Ray is a part of our team," Woodson said. "And as his coach I'm going to support him and make sure he's doing everything the right way from here on out, and to try to get him to just concentrate on basketball and practice and playing games."
On Wednesday morning, WFAN radio co-host Craig Carton called for the Knicks to send a message.
"You cut Ray Felton today," Carton said. "No wiggle room, no discussion, no talking about it. You're not going to the playoffs. You're not winning an NBA Championship. He's got two more years at about $3.5 million per year — insignificant amount of money in the NBA landscape.
"It's time to bring a franchise to some level of respectability. Step one — you cut Raymond Felton."
The Knicks -- and the NBA -- may wait for legal proceedings to play out before disciplining the point guard.
Felton read from a prepared statement a day after he was arraigned on three charges of criminal possession of a weapon. He was released on $25,000 bail and was ordered to stay away from his estranged wife, whose divorce attorney gave police what was allegedly the 29-year-old's loaded handgun.
"I want to start off by saying thank you to my teammates, thank you to the fans, to my family, to my friends, everybody for their support in this situation," Felton said. "This is not a distraction to this team. I'm focusing on finishing out this season, finishing out these games with my teammates and going down to Miami, focusing on this next game at task versus the defending champs."
He took no questions and wouldn't comment on his arrest.
"As far as speaking on what's going on off the court with me, there will be no comment," he said. "But other than that, I'm here to concentrate on this team, finish this season out with the New York Knicks and see what happens, man. Trying to make it to the playoffs. We're 5½ games out, 25 games left, so I'm really focusing on that with these guys, with the team and trying to make that happen."
Felton's next scheduled court date is June 2.
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